CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Senior Directors Meeting

A sigh. That is the best action he can muster whilst standing in front of the wooden double door. Even after he got the necessary permission to walk over to the place, there is still hesitation bubbling in the back of his mind. It feels strange because they are now on two opposite sides with very different positions. Though to be honest, both of them never actually see it in such way from the start.

A knock. He did it. He managed to land his knuckle on the door. He repeats the same gesture for a couple of times before he lets his breathing stables. Securing the necktie he has to buy extra seconds, the younger male pushes the door, letting his head peeks into the room first before his whole self.

Hyunsik nervously nears himself towards the centre of the spacious office. The fellow occasionally swings by the place to talk about matters, business matters. Other topics are usually held out of the box where he guesses it should be. However, the matter in hand is not something he wants to be slipped off that easily. If this is the only chance he has, might as well use it while he can. Seated across him, behind the office desk is the man that everyone expected to be at for the what-might-be the final show held by RQS Production.

“Am I interrupting you?” Hyunsik voiced his initial question, thankfully calmed down after a moment went by. A brief nod is received before he claims the empty chair situated somewhere in the room. There, he waits another couple of minutes before the other male pushes aside his work to join him at the discussion area of the room.

“What do you want to talk about?” He heard the question before adjusting his position to appear more comfortable. Hyunsik takes note on the appearance shown by the fellow in front of him. It is his way to choose the right tone to use in the conversation. Is he there as the company’s CEO or is he there as his friend? He wishes for the latter.

“I’ll dive straight in. Are you going to Rose Quartz’s show on Saturday night? Most of us will.” Hyunsik paused his sentence there to register the blank expression plasters on the guy’s face. Suddenly the cold room turns chillier and frankly he is not supposed to be scared of the outcome.

“Come on, Changsub. It might be the last time we get to see RQS’s show. I went to the preview and they pulled it off very well. Do you know who the current head director? Seungcheol. You said yourself, the kid got potential to lead when you saw my previous shows when he was the assistant director.” The fellow continued and there is a change of facial expression from the other.

A tiny smile creeps on Changsub and he has long predicted Rose Quartz and Serenity Production’s future. He once thought, it will flop and it shall flop hard. Maybe Hyunsik is pulling his leg to witness the fall of the production he once joined. “Who said I’m not going?”

“Wait, you will?”

“Everyone said they will. As if I got a choice. I even cleared by schedule for it.” Changsub answers Hyunsik’s question. A genuine smile finally occupied his face.

It was a joke.

Who would be bad enough to wish for people’s downfall? As bad as his past was with the founder, Changsub hopes for only positivity to come out of the production. It amazes him how long RQS Production still standing tall up to this day. His feud with Eunkwang has long been solved and Hyunsik knows that. Or at least he wishes he does.

Hyunsik exhales in relief. He figured he has to make more convincing statements to ask his friend to be there. He missed the smile on Changsub’s face unfortunately because by the time he glances up from the coffee table situated in front of him, the older male is eyeing on the tall glass window far away from them. Just like his gaze and mind.

“Will he be there too?” Changsub stands from his seat and Hyunsik’s eyes trail on the fellow’s distancing figure. From the question and the little information Hyunsik has, he replies, “Of course Eunkwang will be there. You said yourself, every past director are going.”

‘It is not him I’m talking about.’

“And I said of course Eunkwang will be there-” Hyunsik repeated the lines. Instead of throwing the sentence to Changsub nonetheless, he is now within the crowded Silverlight Entertainment’s cafeteria. It is not a part of the plan to meet up with the other lad but once he gets the text, he drives straight from the Blue Box Entertainment building to meet up with no other than Seo Eunkwang himself.

“He said that? Are you sure he is asking about me?” Eunkwang who is puzzled by Hyunsik’s scenario asked. “Well, who else would he be asking? The many reasons he is not going to the previous shows are for the same reason. You.” The younger fellow admitted straightforwardly and it pains the older male a little.

“That is kind of true.” Eunkwang takes a gentle sip of his coffee before his eyes capture a recognisable figure approaching them. Joining the table is another former member of Rose Quartz, Min Yoongi.

“Didn’t know you’re coming.” Yoongi said calmly. He was lining up for lunch when he caught Hyunsik stepping into the cafeteria with a very confused face. Once he saw who is seated with, he made a decision to slip in after purchasing a light afternoon meal. “A last minute trip.” Is all Hyunsik replied with.

“I feel like there is a story you missed. Changsub doesn’t bother telling you?” Eunkwang picked up from the last conversation. Both Hyunsik and Yoongi grow more puzzled and it does not matter if one comes earlier than the other. Shaking his head, Eunkwang has his arms folded against his torso. Eyes squinting in curiosity as to if he should do the honour.

“Let’s take this to my office then.”

Final season of 1^st Generation of Rose Quartz and Serenity Production team…

“I’m tired.”

“If that is it, you should take a rest.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m tired of this.”

Eunkwang ruffled his hair, hoping his overly fried brain to finally be at ease yet that did not seem the case. His vague hand gestures did not help Hyunsik to understand the situation the production was in. Adding on the blazing fire was a very messy office space with papers scattered after a massive fight between two directors.

Or at least, that was what most of the production members learnt.

As the founder of Rose Quartz and Serenity Production, Eunkwang knew the risk he was taking to open up a place for young theatre lovers to express themselves. He too was just like them. The feeling of being on stage exhilarated him in many ways and he understood that. To fulfil that, he ran around the place – Seoul Institute of Arts.

His professors loved the idea to give a space for the students to shine. With their advices and help, he took over what is known as the Silver Diamond Performance Hall. A nice ring as he was the one who found the place. The next step after that was to seek more members.

More members meant more directors, more stagehands, more shows.

Eunkwang scouted Changsub after he saw one of his smaller sized theatre works at the university. Hyunsik was the junior who shadowed him in a couple of productions. He knew a good director when he caught one. The rest of the crew came in and naturally some went off as well. Sadly, one of them included a close friend – the co-founder of Rose Quartz and Serenity Production, Lee Minhyuk.

And everything went down horrifyingly disastrous. It was an interesting timing to act out the final scene when misunderstandings were all that happened during the final season of 1^st generation RQS Production. Where did thing go wrong, Eunkwang wanted the answer.

The fight he had with Changsub was only on the surface, as per usual. They were not on talking term for a good three days. That was the maximum period before they returned to their normal self yet that time around, the fight was massive with just three of them in the same room and the third person was not Lim Hyunsik.

Present time…

The small eyes widen in realisation of the true story.

The youngest among them left agape at the reasoning.

The founder? He simply smiles, feeling lighter upon delivering the reality.

“I never thought about that. It doesn’t pass by my mind.” Hyunsik uttered unbelievably when the silence in the safety of Eunkwang’s office space grew hostile. He feels bad for not realising it any sooner. He should have opened his eyes wide to see his surrounding because that is where the answer had always been at. Yoongi though…

“That’s crazy.” He said and as someone who only joined RQS later down the line, he sensed the strangeness of the story about the fight between two former directors. What is crazier is the fact both Eunkwang and Changsub never bothered trying to erase the false news spreading among the members from the start. But Yoongi does not blame them entirely.

Once they retired from the production, they immediately started with their plans in opening their respective company and surely enough they began from the bottom to be where they are now. The only rivalry they are having is a healthy one unlike many see and known. They had no time to swing by Hyunsik’s shows neither the other 2^nd gens shows. It was definitely not because of their so-called feud.

“Shouldn’t you clear your names at least? Everyone in Rose Quartz is getting bad ideas about you two and it hurts me even more when it is spreading. What if the 3^rd gen makes a hit for this show? More members will join RQS and the story will go on.” Hyunsik spoke on and on. Yoongi backs up with a constant nod.

“I wish we can. Changsub and I had been trying but more and more problem goes straight to Rose Quartz rather than the two of us, especially me. You don’t think short circuits happened because of faulty all the time, do you?” Eunkwang puts out a sigh and fixes his eyes on the two friends.

“I’m glad everyone is safe. Though I’m no longer an official member of RQS Production, I’m always on a lookout for you guys. I even pitched in some money for Night & Rain upcoming play which I’m definitely going.”

“Can it be the invitation was his doing too?” Yoongi mumbled, not wanting to expose the information yet. Unfortunately, Eunkwang heard him clearly. “The invitation was not from RQS?” The creases on his forehead are too obvious to ignore. Hyunsik can tell he is as confused as any former RQS director would be.

“Sungjae and Yanan told me the letter is not from them. They are not planning to invite us like that. Not specifically on that night.”

The finale night of Night & Rain, A Musical.

Shinyoung picked the Rose Quartz and Serenity Studio as a place where she can achieve the highest level of concentration. With the vacant practice studio, she is able to scatter the papers from her file on the floor to make the final check up. Since dragging Soonyoung along is out of the plan, she expected everyone to be resting as they are supposed to. Yet why is she at the quiet building, alone?

“Anyone’s there?” She asked aloud when she heard the squeaky door being pulled from the outside. The only light providing sight is the one exactly above her so she can barely make out the silhouette coming from the only entrance of the room. “It’s just me.”

The girl finally releases her held up breath when she sees Junhui entering the room. He conveniently switches on every light there is in the studio and nears himself to her lonely self. “Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be home?”

“Same question to you, Jun. Why are you here?” Shinyoung glances up from her set design drawing to meet the Chinese male’s eyes. “I came by the studio in the morning to do some final work before tomorrow’s show but I left my wallet at the meeting room. When I saw the light poured out of the room, I decided to check out. And here we are.” Junhui explained and it makes sense. There are still things to be done by all department heads up to this night.

“Do you want me to stay with you until you’re done?” Being a good friend he is, Junhui offered and Shinyoung gladly accepts it. “How is it like being the Scenographer? It’s your first, right?”

“Yeah, it’s tiring but fun. That is all that matters. I don’t have to write a full thesis next semester with this project helping me.”

“Happy to hear that.” Junhui softly smiles as he follows his friend’s hand movements. She is sorting through sketches, computer-generated drawings, and mood-boards. From what he learnt, Shinyoung is supposed to be the artistic advisor, not the actual designer to everything. Yet he can tell not everything is her work when he finds mood-boards from the costume department.

“Mingyu did well on Myungho’s final outfit, huh?” Taking the mentioned design, Shinyoung agrees. The all white costume fits the lanky boy. The same outfit will be worn by Seungkwan too but looking at the photoshoot version, she can somewhat see a glow from the young Chinese boy compared to the Korean, Jeju-born boy.

“Yeah, yeah. Stop admiring the kid and finish your job. I don’t like staying here for too long. This place feels scarier than I thought it will be.” Junhui takes the photo of her hand when he realised she is eyeing on it a tad too long. “I wasn’t admiring Myungho. I was admiring the outfit Myungho wears. There’s a difference.” The girl defended but the light shade of pink is a give-away.

When Shinyoung turns to pack, Junhui cannot help but to soften. He is not an expert to the situation yet why else would Shinyoung blush whenever they are talking about Minghao? Let alone having to be standing in a close proximity with one another?

He has a bad feeling tagging along with the idea sparks in his mind.

 MEET THE CREW